Congresswoman Hirono Applauds Housing Deal to Help Keep Hawaii's Families in their Homes
Statement
The U.S. Department of Justice, Department of Housing and Urban Development, and 49 State Attorneys General (including Hawaii Attorney General David Louie) today announced a $25 billion agreement between federal and state governments and the nation's five largest mortgage lenders: Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Citi, and Ally Financial.
"This agreement is a promising step that will provide the State of Hawaii approximately $60-70 million to help responsible homeowners stay in their homes by meeting their financial commitments. This agreement is also important because it doesn't let the banks off the hook. It requires them to make much-needed lending reforms and institutes stiff penalties if they fail to meet the terms of the agreement." said Congresswoman Mazie Hirono (D-HI), a member of the Congressional Housing Stabilization Task Force. "I applaud this joint effort to provide relief to Hawaii's struggling families and commend Attorney General Louie and his colleagues from around the country for coming together in a bipartisan way to address one of the most significant issues facing our communities and economy.
"We still have a lot of work to do. This issue goes far beyond party or ideology because for a full economic recovery to take hold we have to fix the foreclosure and housing crisis. Congress should take a page out of the AGs' book and get to work in a bipartisan way on legislation to further address this issue."
Lenders will provide at least $20 billion in financial relief for homeowners, including principal reduction, refinancing, and forbearance. They will provide at least $5 billion directly to federal and state governments to support foreclosure prevention efforts and compensate certain victims of fraud and abuse. The settlement also requires significant changes to the mortgage servicing process, and imposes financial penalties on banks that fail to meet the terms of the settlement.
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